Sony Xperia 1 VII: Premium phone with memory card slot and jack socket

Sony is refreshing its top smartphone, at least a little. Even in its seventh generation, the Xperia 1 remains an exception in the high-end segment with a jack socket and memory card slot. However, you have to look for the differences to its predecessor with a magnifying glass. Sony has finally promised a longer update for the device. The manufacturer has also polished up the camera a little and given the Xperia 1 VII a faster processor. But that's almost it. The price is steep: Sony charges 1500 euros for its premium phone.

Externally, the Xperia 1 VII looks like an egg to its predecessor smartphone. The slim and flat casing (16.2 × 7.4 × 0.82 cm) is protected against water and dust in accordance with IP68. Narrow edges frame the screen. The front camera is located at the top. As usual, Sony uses a 6.5-inch OLED display that shows, 2340 × 1080 pixels. According to the manufacturer, the panel fully covers the DCI-P3 color space. An automatic system regulates the refresh rate between 1 and 120 Hz depending on the content displayed.

Telephoto camera with optical zoom

The rear triple camera consists of an ultra-wide-angle, wide-angle and telephoto lens. Sony uses a 1/1.56-inch sensor for the ultra-wide angle, which collects light over a larger area than the 1/2.5-inch sensor of its predecessor. There is also a faster lens in front of the sensor (f/2 instead of f/2.2). According to the data sheet, the rest of the camera equipment does not differ from that of its predecessor – but does differ from the high-end competition. This is because Sony has built a real optical zoom into its premium model. The telephoto zoom covers the focal length range from 85 to 170 mm (according to KB). As before, a 1/3.5” Exmor RS (12 MP) sensor is used. The telephoto can also be used as a macro camera. Smartphone manufacturers normally use the ultra-wide angle as a macro camera. In our test, the Sony version turned out to be much more practical – but with one limitation: the autofocus does not work in macro mode. This is also the case with the Xperia 1 VII.

Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite serves as the SoC. Sony delivers the 1 VII in only one memory configuration, with 12 GB of main memory and 256 GB of flash memory. This can be expanded by up to 2 TByte via microSD card. Like its predecessor, the battery has a capacity of 5000 mAh, with which the 1 VI shattered records in tests. Sony has fixed the biggest weakness of the predecessor with the 1 VII: The manufacturer has finally adapted the update promise at least halfway to the high price. Sony wants to deliver four years of Android version updates and six years of security patches. However, this does not put Sony on a par with manufacturers such as Google and Samsung, who provide seven years of function and security updates for their top smartphones from market launch.

(rbr)